Mujedin opened his eyes the moment the explosion rocked his home at 4:15 in the morning, tearing out the walls and the roof. It was a miracle of God, he said, that his entire family woke up alive.

That day, their exile began.

They were among the thousands of ethnic Albanians forced from their home and their country during the Kosovo conflict. Mujedin is 50. His wife is 48. They feel too old to have to start over, he said. But in a new country with no friends or belongings, they have little choice.

From the Bytyci's new home in Hampton, Mujedin recounted his family's painful journey, which began March 24 when their home was bombed and Serbian troops gathered the family together. Leave everything and go, they were told. Leave your identification, your official papers and documents.

In moments, the family was homeless. They took with them little more than the clothes they wore. But Mujedin took a risk. He stayed in the house long enough to hide their savings - 1,000 deutschemarks, about $530 - on their oldest daughter, Lendita. He figured the soldiers would have little reason to torment his girls.

Then the family fled to a cousin's house. But once again, they were met by Serb troops. The soldiers were masked. They separated Mujedin's three daughters from the rest of the family and took them away. The oldest daughter was 20. The youngest was only 14.

Their mother, Elife, waited in terror. Surely, she thought, her daughters would be brutalized and murdered. Then there would be only bodies.

Mujedin said he had no idea what the soldiers wanted. But it seemed that the men were interested in money. When Lendita handed over 1,000 deutschemarks, the men returned the three young women to their parents. The family was rounded up with others and taken to a train station.

Mujedin described how the family was packed onto railroad cars so tightly that they spent most of the six-hour trip to the Macedonian border on their feet. For seven days, they waited near the border until they were finally allowed to cross over.

On April 6, they arrived at a refugee camp called Stenkovac. They slept on the bare ground, beneath a tent covering shared with several other families. They had little to eat and no place to wash.

"It was really bad, very bad," Mujedin said Wednesday, through a translator.

Gradually, conditions improved, but hope remained thin. Mujedin was asked which country he and his family would prefer to live in. They were allowed to choose from several European countries. The United States was not on the list.

Mujedin said he wanted his family sent to England because he has another son there.

But when he was finally presented with his options, he was told his family could either relocate to Sweden or to America. The family had no ties to either place, but Mujedin decided that America would offer more opportunities for them.

After two months at the refugee camp, the Bytyci family boarded a plane. They arrived in Hampton on Monday.

They still don't know what to make of this place, Mujedin said. It has been only two days. He knows that they are lucky to be alive and to be together. He said the bad times are behind them. Yet so many challenges still lie before them.

They are without possessions, without friends and in need of work. Refugee and Immigration Services of the Catholic Diocese of Richmond is assisting them with their job placement and living needs. But nothing is familiar.

Except for the tea.

Of all the things that Mujedin managed to save from his home country, Mujedin saved his Kosovaran tea. The family drinks it after every meal.

It is a reminder of the days when Mujedin worked as a postal worker and a teacher in his own province, a college-educated man who was putting his oldest daughter through her third year of university training.

Maybe in a year, he said, his family can return home. If they have no home left, he said, maybe they can live in the apartment he kept in the capital city. He understands that a Serbian family lives in it now.

"He hopes they'll leave his apartment so he can go back," said his translator, Mevsudin Harbas.

Coordinators for Refugee and Immigration Services in Norfolk say more refugees are on their way to this area. The organization is working with the United States Catholic Conference and the U.S. State Department to relocate them to the United States.

Mujedin said he and his family are looking forward to having some new neighbors. There's still enough tea to go around.

- Sandra Tan can be reached at 247-7854 or by e-mail at stan@dailypress.com

TO HELP

The Bytyci family is in need of clothing and household goods. The family consists of a husband and wife; two sons, 11 and 17; and three daughters, 15, 19 and 21.

Anyone with donations or questions about how they can assist the family should call Refugee and Immigration Services in Norfolk at 623-9131.